The Dead Horde
by Iuz the Old
Summary: Undead chill our bones, stalk our nightmares and make us scream. When a mercenary journey goes awry and a sworm of undead are unleashed from the underworld, the only ones who stop the horde are the ones that let
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer/AN: Ti, Galeron, North-Wind, Ajax, Phoenix, Void are all MY!!!!!! Characters, but everything else is morrowind related.

A voice devoid of emotion spoke that one phrase, "I will now break the shield, the doorway shall be unsealed. The kings will pour out the door. And come to Vvardenfell once more."

Ajax sat bolt upright so suddenly was the transition from sleep to awkeness and lying down to sitting that his head swam a bit and he calmed his breathing to steady himself. He shouldn't have been surprised. He had had this dream since the start of winter. Now that it was the very middle and coldest part of winter he should have gotten used to it. It wasn't scary or anything, so why did it bother him so much?

The spell-blade turned around and saw a frost giant on the horizon. Apparently the frost giant saw him and started running toward a scraggly path of rocks. Before he knew it there were boulders pummeling his makeshift camp. Ajax immediately shook off his sleeping bag and did a sideway roll behind the nearest tree, grabbing his chain mail and claymore. He decided to distract the Frost giant's attention by summoning a creature. He slipped a small statuette out of his belt pouch and whispered and arcane phrase. A scamp stood in the snow before Ajax in mere seconds ready to please his master. Ajax signaled the impish creature to attack the giant and smirked as the scamp ran off shrieking its abyssal language at the attacker.

Sprinting and rolling again Ajax was able to dodge the boulders until the scamp got close enough to use melee attack on the giant. He saw a deep gash appear on the giant's leg as the scamp took it by surprise. Roaring in pain the giant took its crude club from its belt and did a downward chop to the scamp's unguarded head. Normally there would have been a shattering of the skull and an explosion of gore, but the scamp was from another plane of existence. The club had no effect and the scamp stood there unfazed and unnerved.

The giant though, stood bewildered with mouth agape. Ajax had bought enough time and went in a charge singing a Nord song of battle as his blonde hair rippled past in the chilling wind. He swung his claymore and felt it bite deeply into the giants flesh. He drove the blade clean through the giant's thigh and jumped quickly to the right as a club came smashing down where he once was. Ajax slipped a dagger statuette and spoke a few syllables and in seconds clasped the hilt of a summoned spiritual dagger. He slammed the hilt into a pressure point on the giant's back and the massive back lurched forward out of reflex. Ajax's enchanted boots and acrobatic skills let him jump strait up onto the giants back were he quickly ran to the head and grabbed a handful of the giants unruly silver hair. He forced the colossal neck back and drew a clean slit on the giant throat. Jumping back off of the giant Ajax dismissed the scamp and watched as the monstrous humanoid fell dead.

Ajax walked over to the dead body and retrieved his claymore. Wiping the sword on the giant's tunic he noticed that the giant had some strange potions he could not identify. The closest town was Suran and he had heard there was an alchemist there. He could find out what these potions were and continue his mercenary carrier there. After being banned from Peligad for assault he was ready for a nice inn, soft bed, warm food, and a good flagon of ale.

The bar was noisy and an uproar, but that's what every bar is like. Ajax pushed his way through the crowd towards the bartender. "I'm looking for the town alchemist," he stated.

The bartender flashed a yellow and brown teethed grin. He wheezed when he spoke like he had a throat problem.

"Don't ya know? The alchemists been dead for months. Killed by an assassin, he was. No one really misses him though. He was a thief that one. Stole half the town's money in an epidemic saying he would make healing potions. Bah! He spent it all to upgrade his already huge mansion! The lying rat!"

Ajax was a bit unsettled, but thanked the man anyway. As he walked out of the bar into the cool night, Ajax could hear some muffled shouts coming from the alley. Drawing his claymore Ajax carefully stepped toward the direction the shouting was coming from. He saw a man bending down on his knees, head in his hands sobbing. Ajax slowly approached the crying man. He was within 6 feet of the man when he heard a sound like a sword coming out of its sheath. Ajax instantly realized that he had been played for a fool. This ruse was more like an ambush than anything else. The crying man wheeled around battle-axe in his hand. Ajax was surprised, he definitely head a sword clearing its scabbard. Where was the sword? A moment later he felt something slicing threw his back. There it is, Ajax thought before falling to the ground. Darkness was starting to creep into his sight and he was almost unconscious when he saw a blinding flame of blue appear in the dim alley. Then he knew darkness and nothing more.

Ajax expected the underworld to be boiling hot, or freezing cold. He also thought that the underworld would look like a barren field. He didn't expect to be in a small cottage with a fire crackling. The Nord tried to sit up, but was only given a lance of pain through his body and a clouded head. The second try was just as painful and disorienting, but he did manage to sit up. He rubbed a hand where the wound had been. He only felt a slightly dry spot of skin.

"Oh good, you're awake," said a voice that seemed to be surprised. "I didn't know if you would make it through the night."

Ajax swiveled his head around to see an orc clad in healers clothes. He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yes I know," said the orc, "An orcan healer is an odd profession." "But it is the only reason you are alive."

Ajax suddenly felt ashamed, this man had save his life and Ajax hadn't even thanked him. "I'm sorry, I'm just- I don't usually…. Um… thanks… for saving my life."

The orc bowed and said, "It is my duty as a healer to help those who need it."

"Well, I think I know of a way I can make saving my life to you." Ajax said with a grin forming across his face.

Void carefully considered Ajax's idea, "I save your life and you pay me back by telling me to accompany you to an ebony mine for half the share of raw ebony."

Ajax thought Void was backing out and quickly said; "Ebony is worth a lot… why… just one piece is about 160 gold."

Void looked puzzled, then the orc threw back his head and laughed. "Just what I would expect from a Nord. A life for gold." He laughed again shoulders shaking. "I don't mean and racial offense Ajax. I'll gladly go on this "adventure." Suran has been too quiet too long."


	2. Green, Red, Blue, and White

Disclaimer: Same as before peoples

A/N1:I'd like to thank Daystorm mage on being the first person to review my story

A/N2: If anyone has any ideas that they want to give me and I think they're good, I'll put them in my story. Also tell me what you think of the story. Now… Presenting… Chappie 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Silence

Silence

Even more silence

Right… uh… here's… uhh… chapter 2… Mumble I need to get an audience

Void stood stoic looking ahead at nothing, staring into space. This task would take all of his self-control and will power. Ajax was in vain trying to push a boulder out of the way of the entrance to the ebony mine. Void could no longer take it. It started as a snort, then a chuckle, then a laugh, and then the orc was cackling with laughter. Ajax turned his head and spat, "Lets see you do it healer." Void shrugged, cracked his knuckles, and walked over to the rock.

The orc put both hands in a vice-like push grip and took a deep breath. Then he stuck his feet in the ground and shoved his arms at the rock. Ajax smirked that Void was no better than he was. Void smirked under his long black hair. When he took the deep breath he had let out an incantation that activated a spell of strength. The boulder shifted and moved an inch. The orc gritted his teeth and pushed harder. The boulder budged some more and finally it gained momentum. Void pushed again and sent the boulder rolled down the hill they climbed to get to the ebony mine into a small ditch. Void grinned and wiped his brow. "After you," the orc said to a dumbfounded Ajax indicating to the tunnel that led into the mine.

As soon as Void stepped into the mine he knew something was wrong. He kept this to himself as Ajax was still steaming about the boulder incident. He kept seeing things out of the corner of his eye as they got deeper too. Then he noticed that they had not seen a single piece of ebony yet. Apparently Ajax noticed this too and he looked around wildly. "Maybe our lanterns are failing," said the healer in consolation. That didn't help Ajax, Void noticed as the spell-blade kept walking along still looking wildly.

Ajax suddenly broke into a run, "Finally, there it is." Despite the uneasy feelings he'd been having Void broke into a smirk at how greedy humans were. Then he remembered back to his childhood in a tribe of nomadic orcs, _they were greedy too _he realized and his grin disappeared as quickly as it had come. He caught up to Ajax and saw him busily stuffing his pouches full of the black ore. "Ooh I'll be rich, so very rich," Void heard Ajax mutter. The Nord stopped and stretched his hand out toward something.

"Hey Void, look at this!" Ajax whispered. "What do you think this is?" Void reached for what Ajax had in his hand. He squinted and studied the rock. He had never seen anything like it. Anyone who looked at it could clearly see four colors in the gem, green, red, blue, and white, but they seemed to be all melded together as one color. There were also words etched on the stone, and he could barely make them out. "It crushes, it burns, it rushes, it churns." The confused healer said.

The eyes opened for the first time since it had been summoned. Its body groaned and creaked, but the colossal figure stood up and it lumbered forward to crush the intruders.

The body formed together difficultly in the cold mine. It needed warmth and heat; it would find that in the bodies of the intruders. It wanted to burn so very much.

Slowly, dripping, slowly, dripping. Those were the only words it had known for more than a century. But the form shifted and went to a more willing form, and for the first time in a century it moved, rushing out to consume the intruders.

It had been drifting in that direction anyway, so it wasn't minded by quickening its pace. Swirling and churning it moved, it had no shape, but it didn't need one. What you can't see you can't attack.

They had been following the intruders since they arrived. They were the true guardians of the mine not the elementals, the shadow children loved the mine and the mine loved them. They didn't love the elementals, and neither did the mine. They would wait if the intruders killed the elementals, or if the elementals killed the intruders. It did not matter as long as the mine was safe.

Everything was going well, Ajax thought, there was no danger so far, and he had enough ebony to buy his own district in Balmora or even Vivec. He could give up mercenary work for a while and spend some time to relax. He started to feel his boot get wet, drawing back in surprise he saw a pool of water that had not been there seconds before. He went over to look at it and seeing nothing visually wrong with it, stepped in the middle of it. Suddenly before the Nord could cry out to Void, the water rose against gravity and plied itself to Ajax. It then turned into a gelatin-like substance and Ajax was reminded of a fair in Seyda Nee where he tried a dessert that felt just like his captor. Ajax bitterly thought that now he knew how the cherry in the middle felt. His imprisonment had taken roughly the form of a human with huge claws at the end of his hands and feet.

Ajax saw from an internal view as the creature lumbered toward Void. The orc looked up at the noise and drew a sliver staff. A lot of good that's going to do thought Ajax. He retracted his thoughts when he saw the staff ignite in a blue flame, though Void appeared to suffer no damage at all. Ajax's captor, whatever it was, was considerably larger than him so it gave Void some room to strike blows. The creature let out a wail that would shatter glass, and from the inside of the creature Ajax shut his eyes as a headache exploded into creation, he knew that this was at least a thousand times worse than if you were on the out side of the creature.

Void didn't know what to think when he saw his friend inside a water elemental. All he did know was that the thing standing before him was somehow linked to the gem he found. He also knew that his fire staff would be useless against the elemental. He abruptly remembered a soul gem he once had. It absorbed a life like fire absorbs wood. Void was almost skewered when a blue claw can slicing the air his way. The healer jumped back and slung his staff over his back.

He rolled to the right and then right again. Calling his bluff, the water elemental struck the ground to the right where Void would have rolled if he rolled right again. Instead he moved to the left. The orc fished around in his pocket and pulled out the bizarre gem. He threw it at the elemental, which had left itself open with its incorrect attack. The gem sank into it and hung suspended. Then it pulsed with a blue light and the elemental started to convulse.

The water elemental turned its shuddering head and said in a voice that sounded like crushed ice scraping together, "Damn you foul orc." With that the elemental fell to the floor on is knees and Void saw as its feet slowly dissolved into water and watched the transformation creep up until it stopped at the head.

Ajax quickly crawled out of the pool of water looking disoriented. The gem continued to glow and the water was sucked into the gem. Void ignored Ajax and ran to the gem. He saw that there was no longer any blue on it, but it looked like there never was any. Only green, red, and white remained. Ajax shook his surprisingly dry head and coughed some water out of his lungs. He then stood up behind Void and asked, "What was that?"

The orc slowly answered, "It was a water elemental, and I think we still have an earth, fire, and air left to face. A long red streak suddenly appeared on Void's green arm. The orc cried out more in surprise than in shock. He backed up a step and another ribbon of blood appeared on his calf. "What the…..hell!" Void said aloud still being attacked by an unseen foe.

Ajax drew a figurine from his belt that was more finely carved than any other ones he had. He spoke some words and felt the familiar handle grip of the summoned claymore. He judged the position of Void's foe to be circling him, by the unrepetitive attacks coming from everywhere and nowhere on the healer's magical shield. Ajax knew air elementals were known for speed, so he planted his feet in the circle path of the thing and hopped it wouldn't slow down. Taking his chances he held his claymore away from his body point first.

He felt something impale itself on the blade by the force and gradually saw a mist forming that vaguely resembled a human. The elemental 's innate form of invisibility was broken now, and would never form again. The elemental quickly pulled away from the blade, leaving Ajax amazed by the fact that the elemental's foot was still on his sword.

Ajax saw Void's staff pass harmlessly threw the elemental, because it was not magic without its fire. The orc smirked and stopped halfway through the enemy and then ignite his staff. The elemental wailed in and unknowable pain. Though Ajax didn't know it was possible the elemental rose into the air being eaten alive by sapphire flames. Soon the elemental was gone and Void caught his staff as it fell back to Earth.

The two had little time to collect their bearings as the two slower elementals, but just as strong. Entered the chamber they were in. Void ran towards the fire elemental and yelled back at Ajax, "get the earth elemental, I'll take the fire one."

The earth elemental stood over thirty feet tall and was ten feet wide. Even Ajax who was closer to seven feet tall than six, barely came above the monster's knees. Ajax thought of the Frost giant maneuver he had used on the air elemental, and dismissed it. A massive fist raised over his head had given him second thoughts. Ajax was able to block or dodge most of the elemental's swings, but he eventual started to tire and his arms felt numb from when he was forced to block the enormously strong swings.

The spell-blade decided enough was enough. He put his claymore back in its sheath, and withdrew a sculpture of an eagle. Normally an eagle would have been like a fly to an earth elemental, but this was a dire eagle, a huge bird with a wingspan of ten feet and tearing claws and a stabbing beak sharp enough to match any sword. The earth elemental was taken by surprised by this, which gave the eagle enough time to fly up and rake the giant's face with its talons. The elemental screamed in pain and swung a fist wildly at where Ajax had already been.

Ajax was already running toward the monsters back. He grabbed a foothold on the monster's leg and began to climb up like the earthen creature was an earthen mountain. Meanwhile, he saw, the eagle was keeping a good pace of distracting the earth elemental by swiftly striking and retreating. Then he saw one of the elemental's hands swing up and grab the eagle by the wing. The other hand was quick to follow and they met with the eagle in between them. The great bird exploded in a shower of gore making even Void and the fire elemental stop fighting to look around at the carnage. Blood, bones, and flesh covered everything except Ajax.

The Nord had climbed to the top of the elemental and doing the same routine with it as the frost giant drove his claymore down through the elemental's skull and into its diminutive brain. The creature swayed back and forth for a while then exploded like the eagle, except now pieces of stone rained down from everywhere. Ajax was on the ground gathering his breath before even thing about doing anything else.

The fire elemental stood there ready to meet Void's charge. Void would have thought his staff would be useless against another fire, but he was wrong. The blue fire seemed to have dominance over the red fire. It Seemed to scorch even a fire elemental's fire. Soon Void realized he was just fueling the fire and fanning the flames. The elemental was becoming swifter, stronger, faster, and smarter. Void quickly extinguished his staff's fire and put it away. He cast a shield spell to protect himself from the savage onslaught of the fire denizen.

Void had other tricks up his sleeve, he also used alteration and mysticism magic along with restoration as a healer. He uttered the words of a telekinesis spell and threw the spell component, a feather tied to a grain of sand in the direction of the elemental gem he had used to defeat the water elemental. The gem sailed to him and he caught it just as he saw blood and gore go across the chamber. He also saw the fire elemental look around to see Ajax about to sink his claymore into the earth elemental's head. Seeing that all of the elementals were almost defeated, the fire elemental uttered a roar of defiance and swung around to face Void, death in its eyes. The elemental was then knocked to the ground by a flying piece of stone as the earth elemental exploded.

Void saw his chance and cast another spell of strength. He was able to crumble the gem in his hands and fling the glowing remains at the fire elemental on the ground. The explosion released the water elemental, which had been imprisoned in the gem. But the explosion on the fire elemental caused the two elementals to be fused together.

Water and fire are enemies and opposites. When they come together water quenches fire, but water is transformed into air in the process. When the two elements were combined together in the form of elementals that both of the creatures writhed in torment, burning each other. They could not take it anymore and then they excruciatingly were turned into steam, which had stated to form even as the gem touched the fire elemental.

The intruders had destroyed the elementals, so know they would destroy them. It was what the mine wanted.

Oooh, a cliffhanger. So, Tell me what you thought about the chapter. Where the fight scenes good and exciting? How do you think Void and Ajax will get out of the mine and survive the shadow children? Do you think Void and Ajax are too powerful? And tell me anything else you liked, disliked, or want to suggest any thing about the chapter.

Anywhooo, Senere alle (Ha! I can speak Norwegian!)


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